Page 21 - Jacques Blanchard - Myth and Allegory
P. 21
VENUS AND ADONIS DEPARTING FOR THE HUNT
Circa 1631-2
Oil on canvas
128 x 136 cm (50 1/2 x 53 1/2 in)
PROVENANCE: French private collection, south-west France.
As is so often the case with unmatched and a specific drama has been
Blanchard, the subject of this depicted. The idea that Blanchard may have
picture is delightfully self- been inspired by Shakespeare’s popular poem
evident. It is taken from Ovid31 Venus and Adonis32, is tempting. Here, as in the
and illustrates the moment that the goddess, poem, Venus clings vainly to the youth,
begging Adonis not to leave her for the hunt, pleading with him not to leave for the hunt
knowing that he will never return, entreats a with its dangers. Adonis, exasperated and
kiss from her reluctant and very mortal lover. impatient for sport, tears himself away and is
Painters since the renaissance had recognised found the next morning gored by a boar.
in this particular subject the inherent Venus curses love and vows that to those who
opportunity to showcase their skills as it love truly and best (like her) love will only
demanded a strong command of male, bring sorrow; ergo, love and pain are
female and infant anatomies (largely nudes) inseparable.
landscape motifs, pathos, and, given the
hunting motif, possibly dogs. These demands That we can detect faint but clear echoes of
having been fulfilled, any sense of narrative the Fontainebleau schools in the work is
tension was often overlooked if not unsurprising. Like so many of his
dismissed. The lovers therefore could equally contemporaries, The figures’ attenuated
be interpreted as engaged on their return from joints, and the stylisation of the hair and
the hunt, sated by sport and languorously costumes reflect some residual influences of
pursuing their relationship. But in Blanchard’s the Fontainebleau artists (most obviously
treatment we see a definite focus on this Primaticcio and Amboise Dubois) and of the
tension, the lovers’ efforts are clearly French mannerists in general. However,
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